Hearth



Feb. 19, 1929.

W- F. SPARRow HEARTH Filed Nov. 9, 1926 lNvENToR w/ffr/S/oarrow c* Wy ATTORN Patented Feb. 19, 1929.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HEABTH.

Application filed November 9, 1926. Serial No. 147,209.

This invention relates to fireplaces and more particularly to that type of fireplace having a shaft therebeneath into which the. ashes from the fire may be dumped and allowed l to drop to a receiver in the basement of the house in which the'fireplace. is located.

Long after this country was founded, fire-` places-Were the recognized mode of heating the house. 'Ashes and other refuse from the fire were removed from the fireplace by the use of shovels and buckets or Whatever mode available with the result that the room in which the fireplace was located was more or less littered with ashes.

Vhen houses were built with basements, a marked improvement was added to heating equipment by building a shaft or vertical passageway underneath the hearth of the fireplace thru which theashes might be conducted to the cellar or basement. A small opening in the hearth was provided thru which the ashes could be shoved into the ash shaft. Despite the fact that the latter system was developed almost a century ago it is still installed in modern houses for want of a better one.

'Ihe disadvantages of such -a system are many, chief of which being that it is inconvenient if not difficult to shove the ashes thru the small opening usually provided and that the ashes will fly out into the room as the ashes are being dumped because of the back draft thru the ashv shaft kwhich occurs the moment the shaft is opened at the hearth.

In the modern home of today a fireplace is not relied upon for heating purposes but is on the other hand considered a luxury which adds cheeriness 'and distinction to the home. At the same time our modernism requires that anything about the home be clean, convenient and uncomplicated in its structure. My invention is admirably adapted to meet these stringent requirements.

Opposed to the above described primitive structures of prior years, my invention inchicles a hinged hearth `which dumps mtoan ash shaft and which is controlled preferably by a lever mechanism to be operated from the room in which the fireplace is located. A vane is also provided which at all times, while ashes are being dumped from the hearth, prevents any back draft thru the ash shaft from throwing dust or ashes out into the room as will be 'more fully understood, together with the objects of my invention, from the description and drawing here'-` With.

In the drawing, in which like reference characters refer to like parts,

Fig. l is a vertical section of a fireplace embodying my invention, the hearth being shown in whatmay be termed the closed position,

Fig. 2 is a vertical section similar to Fig. l, the hearth being shown in the open position,

Fig. 3 is a plan view of my improved hearth, the andirons being removed and the fireplace Walls being shown in section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. I is a horizontal sectional view of the hearth and vane in partially opened position, and i Figs. 5 and 6 are vertical sections of a modification of the vane actuating mechanism which I may employ, certain parts shown in other figures being broken away and omitted.

In the drawings reference character l indicates a conventional fireplace and 2 the flue or chimney thru which the combustion products from the re normally escape. Underneath the fireplace and preferably (from a construction standpoint) substantially in line with the flue may be located a substantially vertical ash shaft, 3 preferably rectangular in cross-section thru which any ashes may drop to the basement, of the house in which the fireplace is located, Where said ashes are caught in any suitable receptacle for disposition as may be seen fit and where any dusting of the ashes is immaterial. In front of the hearth may be located a hearthstone 4: and in the back wall of the fireplace are mounted supports 5 in any suitable manner. `Upon the hearthstone 4 and the supports 5 may be placed andirons, a rebasket. or grate as may be desired. Whether or not the hearthstone 4C is present is entirely immaterial to my) invention as the andirons, or the like, may as well rest upon the top of the wall 6.

The hearth 7 comprises preferably a rectangular metal plate of sufficient thickness and strength so as not to bend or warp easily. Cold rolled steel or malleable iron about 1/8 inch in thickness is a suitable material as to strength and should withstand the heat of an ordinary fire for many years. The hearth may also be made of va 1ious ceramic materials which may or may not be reenforced, as desired. |llhe hearth 7 is made substantially the saine dimensions as the horizontal cross-sectional area of the ash shaft 3 for a purpose to be fully hereinafter set forth. By means of a hinge 8 the hearth l is hinged at its front side to the front wall 6 of the ash shaft 3, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Any suitable hinge may be employed, one element of the hinge being riveted or bolted along one edge and one side of the hearth and the other element of the hinge being secured to the wall t3 by means of screws, such as lag-screws, or this element of the hinge may be laid into the wall as the wall is being constructed.

On the underside and near the hack -edge of the earth Y, and preferably near the center of that edge, is provided an ear 9 to which one end of an arm 10 is pivotally connected. 1n a vertical slot 11 in the wall 6 is. pi'voted another and preferably longer arm 12, the inner end thereof being pivotally connected to the arm 10 as clearly shown in Fi 1 and 2. 1n the floor 13, of the room in which the fireplace 1 is located, may be provided a hole lil to receive the plunger 15 and plunger knob 16. Any suitable and well known locking mechanism may be provided for locking the plunger in its downinost position. l prefer that the hole 14- have parallel sides and that the plunger rise and fall in a vertical plane, in which case the lower end of the plunger 15 would be connected to the outer end of the arm 12 by means of a short link 17( to compensate for the arc thru which the end of the arm 12 swings. Of course the hole 14tmay be in vertical cross-section somewhat in the shape of a l! and the lower end of the plunger 15 connected directly to the outer end of the arm 12,

In the back wall 20 of the ash shaft 3 may be mounted a support 21. of similar material to that from which the hearth i is constructed. rlhis support 21 is of the same length as the width of the ash shaft 3 (as you face the fireplace) and may be mounted by laying a portion of it in the wall 2O orby having the rear edge thereof bent at an angle of 90 which angle may then be secured to the wall by means of screws. rlllhat .portion of the support 21 which protrudes from the wall 2O has a width equal to approximately l/2 to of the horizontal distance from the wall 20 to the arc described by the rear edge of the hearth 7. 1n other words, the front edge of the support 21 should he te the rea-r of the arcuate line defined by the rear edge of the hearth 7. A vane 22 is snugly hinged or pivoted at its lower edge to the front edge of the support 21z This may be accomplished by constituting the cooperating edges of the support 21 and vane 22 the members of the hinge or by suitably riveting a hinge to the said support 21 and vane 22 at their cooperating edges. The vane 22 is also preferably of substantially the same length as the width of the ash shaft 3 and is arcuate in cross-section thruout its length, being of substantially the same curvature as the arc formed by the rear or free edge of the hearth Z as it swings to its downmost position. In other words, the vane 22 has approximately the same shape as a longitudinal strip of the proper width would have which is cut from a hollow cylinder of the same radius as the depth (from front to back) of the hearth 7. lt may of course be found advantageous to increase or decrease the curvature of the vane, depending upon conditions. Secured to or integral with the lower edge of the vane 22 are a plurality of aligned fingers 23 which are placed preferably at an angle, with the vane 22, slightly less than the angle which would be formed with the vane 22 by a line drawn from the center of the hinge 8 to the lower edge of the vane 22. Obviously there may be any number of these fingers 23 or the lingers 23 may constitute a continuous ledge secured to or integral with the vane 23.

These fingers 23 are of such a length as will just allow the tips thereof to clear the rear edge of the hearth as it swings downward and near the tips of the lingers are secured suitable counterweights which cause the vane 22 to press against the hearth 'Z at all times. The vane 22 has a width (measured across its arcuate face, as opposed to the length thereof already defined) approximately equal to the width of the hearth and the support 21 is set at a position so that the tip or upper edge of the vane resides immediately beneath the shoulder 2e and to the rear of the rear edge of the hearth 7 when the hearth is in its closed position as illustrated in F ig. 1. It will be obvious thus far in the description of my invention that the vane 22 must remain at all 'times to the rear of and/ or above the hearth 7. rlhe rear edge of the hearth 7 abuts the shoulder 24 when the hearth is in its closed position. ln the event that a shoulder' 2e is not provided by the fireplace itself, a right angled strip of iron may be secured to the wall 20 to serve the purpose.

The operation of my improved hearth and ash disposal device is as follows: Assuming that there are ashes upon the hearth 7 which it is desired to dump into the ash shaft 8, the knob 16 is unlocked from its socket and the hearth 7 is allowed to swine slowl down-.

clearly shown in yFig..2, the ashes being cov.- ered by the vane 22. By this time the hearth has reached the approximate angle of repose vof the: ashes and the ashes slide off of the hearth into the ash shaft as the hearth is allowed to swing' further downward. Thus it will be seen that at no time during the dumping of the ashes can any back draft throw any ashes or dust out into the room. The

Lvane V22 gently covers the ashes' upon the hearth before anysubstantialsliding of the ashes occurs and when the ashes do finally drop into the ash shaft, the ashes are entirely cut off from any communication with the room in which the fireplace is located. During the downward swing of the hearth 7 the plunger 15 of course rises as shown in Fig. 2. The hearth 7 is now in itsopen position.

In order to return the hearth 7, now freed of its ashes, to the closed position illustrated in Fig. 1 it is merely necessary to push down upon the knob 16 whereby the hearth is caused to swing upwardly. Willen the knob 16 has been pushed into its socket it is locked in place so as to maintain the hearth in its closed position. In its upward swing the hearth 7 forces the vane 22 back into its original position as shown in Fig. 1 and t-he hearth is ready to receive more ashes.

I have referred above to the fact that it is preferable that the length of the hearth 7,`

the support 21 and the vane 22 be of substantially the same length as the width of the ash shaft 3 (as youA face the fireplace). The reason for this, is to maintain a draft tight7 joint at all times between the ash shaft 3 on the one hand and the fireplace 1 and fine 2 on the other hand so that no back draft can occur sufficient to throw ash dust back up the ash shaft or off of the hearth and into the ash shaft 3 without any fear that ashes or ash dust will be thrown back out into the room in which the fireplace is located. This dustless feature is maintained not only by the practically sliding fit of the hearth 7 and vane 22 in the ash shaft 3 but by the fact that the vane 22 covers the ashes before they slide off ofthe hearth and thus cuts olf any communication of the ashes with the room.

By resting the andirons, grate or firebasket upon the supports 5 the ashes may be dumped at will without any interference with maintaining the re which may be burning in the fireplace. Furthermore, because the hearth 7 is hinged at one edge thereof no portion of said hearth can swing upwardly to interfere with or strike the andirons or grate'. In Figs. 5 and 6 I have illustrated a method of actuating the vane 22 in the event that it is not desired to use the counterweighted fingers 23. In this modification lingers 25 are provided for the 'vane 22, it

' fingers 23. These fingers 25 are connected by 'means of arms 26 with ears 27 near the rear edge and ends of the hearth 7, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. As thehearth is permitted to swing downward the vane 22 is caused to travel or swing forward thru the same cycle previously described with respect thereto. Fig. 5 illustrates the closed position and Fig. 6 the open position of the hearth, with this modification. .y

Altho my invention, as described above, is operable for all practical purposes, still other meansmay .bey employed for causing the vane 22 to travel or swing as and for the purpose described. For instance, it may be found desirable to install a compression spring back of the vane 22 or to stretch one or more tension springs from the tips of fingers 23 to a point or points upon the wall 20 below the support 21 so as to cause the vane 22 to travel or swing as described. A small brush may, if desired, be suitably secured to the upper yedge of the vane 22 so as to automatically sweep the front portion of the hearthv when it is dumped.

It is obvious that other modifications of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art, now that I have disclosed the principal features thereof, and that the elements abovel described may be variously proportioned to suit different sizes of fireplaces and ash shafts, and I intend that the above description and drawing shall be only illustrative and not limiting and that the claims appended hereto shall cover the principles of my invention and not be interpreted to define mere details.

I claim:

1. In combination a hinged hearth and a pivoted vane, the position of said vane being controlled by the position of said hearth, the face of the vane contacting with the free edge of the hearth in the latters closed position and the free edge of the vane contacting with the face of the hearth in the latters open position.

2. In combination a hinged hearth and means controllable from a position in proxy imity to said hearth for swinging same at will to said lever for controlling the position of said hearth and` a pivoted vane contacting with said hearth, the position of said vane being controlled by said hearth.

4. The combination of a hinged hearth, means for controlling the position of said hearth, a pivoted vane and means for causing the vane to continually contact With the hearth in any position thereof.

5. The combination of a hinged hearth, means for controlling the position of said hearth, a pivoted vane and means including lingers adjacent the pivot of said vane for causing the vane to continually contact With the hearth in any position thereof.

6. The combination of a hinged hearth, means for controlling the position of sai-d hearth, a pivoted vane and means for causing the vane to continually contact With the hearth in any position thereof, the position of said vane being controlled by the position of said hearth.

7. In combination a hinged hearth, a pivotable lever connected to point near the rear edge of said hearth, a plunger connected to said lever, a support, a vane pivoted to said support and means including fingers adjacent the pivot of said vane for contacting the vane With the hearth.

8. In combination a hinged hearth, a pivotable lever connected to a point near the rear edge of said hearth, a plunger connected to said lever, a support, a vane pivoted to said support, fingers secured to said vane adjacent the pivotthereof and counterweights upon said fingers for causing said vane to contact with said hearth.

9. In combination a hinged hearth, a pivotable lever connected to a point near the rear edge of said hearth, a plunger connected to said lever, a support, a vane pivoted to said support, fingers secured to said vane adjacent the pivot and arms connecting the tips of said fingers With points on the hearth adjacent the edge thereof for contacting the vane with the hearth.

l0. The combination of a fireplace, an ash shaft beneath said fireplace, a hearth hinged to the Wall of said ash shaft, and a vane pivoted Within said ash shaft and continually contacting with said hearth.

1l. The combination of a fireplace, an ash shaft beneath said fireplace, a hearth hinged to the Wall of said ash shaft and a vane Within the ash shaft associated and operable With the said hearth.

12. The combination of a fireplace, an ash shaft beneath said fireplace, a hearth hinged to one Wall of said ash shaft, a vane Within the ash shaft pivoted to the opposite Wall of said ash sha-ft and continually contacting with the said hearth and controlled by the movement thereof, and means including a plunger and lever in proximity to said fireplace for controlling the movement of said hearth.

13. The combination of a hearth hinged upon a substantially horizontal axis and a vane pivoted upon another and substantially parallel axis, the face of said vane being adapted to contact with the edge of said hearth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WALTER F. sPAnnoW. 

